Saturday, June 29, 2013

We are in the middle of some record heat here in So Cal. Time I think to make something frozen!

When we were first married, we used to go to this Italian restaurant. It was in a strip mall, but it had the best food. When we would go there, we would order one of all of the desserts and share them. One of my favorites was their lemon champagne sorbet.

That restaurant is no longer there, but I keep remembering the sorbet - and then I figured I could make it! Sorbet is pretty easy, and I've even made a sorbet with alcohol. After a bit of trial and error, I made this:

Directions:
Combine champagne, sugar, corn syrup, and lemon zest in a saucepan. Bring to a vigorous boil so that the sugar completely dissolves,and continue to boil for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Chill completely. To do this, pour mixture into a ziploc freezer bag and set the bag into a bowl half-filled with ice water. Chill until champagne solution is completely cold, refreshing the ice in the bowl if necessary. Or you can cover with plastic wrap and chill in your refrigerator over night. I don't like to wait that long.

Process the chilled mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Transfer mixture to a storage container and freezer in your freezer until firm, at least 6 hours. While boiling the champagne cooks off some of the alcohol, some still remains and it does take some time to freeze properly.

This sorbet is refreshing, tart and sweet and just a little bit decadent. A real summertime treat!

Friday, June 28, 2013

I love smoked meats, but I don't have a smoker. Which meant no smoked ribs at my house... until we figured out this process to smoke meat on our gas (or charcoal) grill!

First you will need woodchips. You can buy them at home improvement stores or where you can buy a grill. Or specialty meat shops and sometimes even at the grocery store, which is where I get mine. I like to use hickory (for more hearty meats) and apple (for meats that are more delicate). {Amazon sells lots of different kinds of woodchips that you can experiment with!}

Start by soaking woodchips (typically in water, but you can also use wine, beer, whiskey, and even fruit juice) for at least an hour prior to usage.

While your woodchips are soaking, you've got time to get the ribs ready.

Smoked pork ribs should have a dry rub. I like to smoke mine with a spicy dry rub and serve with barbecue sauce on the side. You don't really need the barbecue sauce because this is so tender and juicy, but I've found that some people kind of insist. This is my favorite dry rub:

Love in the Kitchen's Sweet and Spicy Dry Rub

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons ancho chile powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried orange peel

1-2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. {The rub can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks.}

Now it is time for the ribs. I used Country-Style Pork Ribs, which are cut from the blade end of the loin close to the pork shoulder. They are meatier than other rib cuts. They contain no rib bones, but are instead contain parts of the shoulder blade. More meat, and easier to eat.

Evenly coat the ribs in the dry rub. I've placed them in a foil lined dish, and coated one side of them. Then I turn them over and spread the dry rub evenly over the other side as well.

Let the ribs rest for about 20 minutes to allow the dry rub to really adhere. Meanwhile, start up your grill!

This method works on either gas or charcoal grills. Ribs grill best with wood smoke and by cooking them slowly at low heat. We achieve this consistent low heat by grilling our meat indirectly. This simply means we turn up the heat on one side of the grill and we lay our meat down on the opposite side.

Setting up your gas grill is pretty simple. If you have two burners, turn one of them on and leave the other one off. If you have three burners, turn off the two burners on the edges, or if you are having issues maintaining your goal temperature of 250 degrees, turn one of the edge burners on and leave the other two off.

Placing wood chips directly on the flame will cause them to catch fire and burn out quickly; producing a messy pile of ashes and very little smoke. Instead, make a tray out of aluminum foil and put your soaked and drained woodchips in that. {Simple - and once you are done, you can easily and neatly dispose of the tray!}

Now that everything is ready, it is time to turn the burners on and play with fire! Place your woodchip tray directly on top of one of the burners you will be using, and turn that burner up to high heat. Wait until you see some smoke coming out of the grill {waiting is key as opening the lid to check will only delay the process by letting the heat escape}. Once you see smoke coming from the grill, turn the burner to medium-low and place the ribs on the grate over the burner not in use. Remember - slow cooking, indirect heat. Maintain a temperature of 250- 275 degrees while the ribs are cooking. {a grill thermometer like this one is really helpful} Don't worry if your wood chips burn out before your ribs are done. The ribs will have tons of flavor from the time it was smoking.

While your ribs are cooking, spray or baste your ribs with apple cider vinegar every 30 minutes or so. This will help them from getting too dry

The ribs should be fully cooked within 2 - 3 hours. But how do you know? You can't use a meat thermometer because it won't read accurately as you cannot probe the meat deep enough without hitting the bone. {Bones emit heat and will give an inaccurate reading.} But, we do have a couple of ways to check if your ribs are done:

Stick a toothpick between two bones. If it goes in and out of the meat without resistance, they are done.

Cut into the meat with a knife and check to make sure there is no pink juice near the middle of the meat.

What you should have now are some amazing smoked ribs. Serve with your favorite barbecue sauce {here's a good one to try} with buttery corn on the cob on the side.

We also had a giveaway last week. Picked randomly, the winner is <drumroll>

#15- A Life Unprocessed!</drumroll> Please send me your mailing address and I'll get that out to you right away.

Here's what I'll be giving away this week:

Norpro Ice Cream Sandwich Maker

To enter, link up your recipes, crafts and ideas. And for each link you add, you will get one entry. And if you send over a friend who follows me and adds a comment telling me who sent them, you get an extra entry!

Only a few guidelines:

Please share as many links as you like, but only if you haven't shared them here before.

Add a link back to Tuesday's Table (or grab a button above!) so others can join in the fun.

Follow me via Google or Bloglovin.

No other requirements, but visit the other links here, and I'd love for you to sign up for my email reminder here!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Have you ever wanted to bring a banana split to a picnic? Not very easy - ice cream melts when out of the freezer. These cookies are a pretty good substitute. While they aren't ice cream, they have all the flavors of a banana split - and they don't melt!

Banana Split Cookies

Ingredients:

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® strawberry cake mix

1 box (4-serving size) instant vanilla pudding and pie filling mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1-2 bananas, sliced

2 rolls Rollo candies

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

12 maraschino cherries, cut in half

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, stir together cake mix, pudding mix, oil and eggs until well combined.

Divide dough into 2 sections. Divide one section into 12 even pieces. {You might feel that the dough is a bit oily. Don't worry - they bake wonderfully.}

In a small microwaveable bowl, microwave the Rollo candies on High for 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Use a spoon to carefully drizzle the caramel/chocolate mixture over the cookies. {Note - be careful hot caramel is really really hot. You don't want to spill this on your skin. Seriously.}

In small microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips on High in 30-second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Use spoon or fork to drizzle melted chocolate over cooled cookies.

While the caramel and chocolate are still melty, add a cherry half to each top. {I used a bit of leftover melted chocolate on the bottom of each cherry for a little extra glue.}

Let the cookies sit for 2 hours for the chocolate to set. Then taste one.

I think these would go really well with a cold glass of milk. They are tender and sweet and have all the flavors of a banana split - and none of the melting ice cream!

To enter, link up your recipes, crafts and ideas. And for each link you add, you will get one entry. And if you send over a friend who follows me and adds a comment telling me who sent them, you get an extra entry!

Only a few guidelines:

Please share as many links as you like, but only if you haven't shared them here before.

Add a link back to Tuesday's Table (or grab a button above!) so others can join in the fun.

Follow me via Google or Bloglovin.

No other requirements, but visit the other links here, and I'd love for you to sign up for my email reminder here!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

I have a wonderful childhood memory of eating toast with cinnamon sugar for breakfast at my Grandma's house. On a TV tray. In the family room (!) and in front of the television {gasp - don't tell my Mom!}!

I've always loved that simple breakfast, with lots of cinnamon and lots of sugar. I decided to turn it into a slightly more upscale treat - Cinnamon Toast Muffins!

Cinnamon Toast Muffins

Ingredients:

⅓ c. butter, melted

½ c. sugar

1 egg (preferably room temperature)

1½ c. all purpose flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. nutmeg

½ c. milk

¼ c. sugar

¼ c. butter, melted

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients.

Add wet ingredients and stir until combined, but still a bit lumpy. (Don’t overmix).

Scoop batter into muffin tins or muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl.

Dip the warm muffins in melted butter, then dip/roll the muffin in cinnamon sugar.

Voila!

Don't these look delicious? And they totally bring me back to my childhood.